Confidence in a Life
by attemptedmonochrome14
Summary: Retha Cote wanted nothing more that a happy life. She didn't want to be laughed at or scorned, she wanted to be accepted- now it's a little too late for that. But will an unlikely event change her? Pairing will eventually be determined by her personality and over time.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1-Confidence in a Life**

I leaned back in my seat, feeling half-dead from lack of sleep. I was dead tired, honestly. I had been staying up much too late, watching One Piece and reading the manga over and over again. I had to quit this annoying addiction to the thing.

It was hilarious, I have to admit, but it was just too much! My life has been going downwards because of it as well. My friends thought I was weird, so I quit bringing the manga to school, and then the sophomores began calling me "nerd girl" and making cruel comments about how stupid the whole series was.

I even got into a fight because one of the older girls tried to push me down a flight of stairs, probably thinking that one of the many books I carried was a One Piece manga. I ended up falling down the stairs in the end anyway, but that bitch was at least suspended for an entirety of 2 months. All I ended up with was a broken wrist- okay, it was really painful since my reflexes got in the way and I decided to avoid more damage... I'll shut up now.

I just ramble on way too often, don't I?

Brushing an annoying strand of thick, wavy dark-brown hair out of my face, I leaned back forwards again just as the bell signaling the last period sounded. I love the 8th period, 'cause that means I'm finally free.

Ignoring the ridiculing stares coming from the rest of the students, I continued to walk through the thick crowd of students. My right wrist was in a cast unfortunately since the 'accident,' so I just used my other hand to open the combination on my lock. It was difficult, but I managed.

I then turned around a saw the back of that bitches friend's head. Her gorgeous blond curls bobbing as her annoying laugh rang through my mind, towing unpleasant memories with it. She was apparently texting a friend of hers.

I growled softly, suddenly having a powerful urge to shove her down the flight of stairs that were only ten feet away.

I stomped on that urge, slinking away from the damn blond instead. Her hair color wasn't even real, especially those red "hoe-lights," as I like to call them. I left the school as quickly as possible once I retrieved my black hoodie from my locker, along with my Ipod and three volumes of the One Piece manga.

Okay, am kind of a nerd about it. But the stuff is too _awesome _for me to ignore.

I pulled on my hoodie and zipped it up halfway, stuffing my Ipod in my pocket as I walked down the steps leading to my freedom. I really cursed high school every day. Not because of the homework and all, but because of the students. I don't even know where my friends went. Walking across the school yard, I saw my happy little bundle of friends standing there- with a different girl laughing with them. I stopped in shock.

Had they replaced me? Had they really replaced me?

My mind began to brim with millions of the same question before one of my friends looked up. It was Mike. I turned on my heel and shot across the school yard at the sight of his smile. It seemed to taunt me how nobody else knew how I felt.

I heard my name being shouted, but I ignored it and kept running, not even stopping to take a breath. Why would I even need breath now? Maybe I could make it easier for myself if I just went away?

When everything slowed down, I found that I had actually stopped in front of the lake, only a couple inches away from stepping off of the cement dock and drowning myself in the gray waters. Maybe I could kill myself right now, yes! That could be the result to all of my problems.

Hah, dying with my Ipod, favorite jacket, and three of my manga sounded like fun, it's like a pharoah being buried. I looked down at the waters before me, wondering how long it'd take for my body to be found. The water lapped up at the edge of the dock, almost as if the tips of the waves were hands. They _wanted _me to fall in, pull me under and rid me of my breath.

I tightened the straps on my bagpack, knowing that the weight of my school books would help drag me under quicker. I couldn't allow myself to struggle as I sank, otherwise I might attract attention to myself. Speaking of that...

I looking around.

All of the lakeside shops and restaurants were closed. Nobody was in sight, since it was supposed to be a rainy day, and to top it off it was freezing.

That's good, actually.

I'd die quicker since it's cold.

I stepped a little closer to the high-up edge, looking down to see the reflection of a girl who used to smile- a lot. Even my lips were always slightly curved at the corners. I was born as a happy, laughing child. I rarely cried when I was little.

My blue eyes, now pale-looking and lacking the life they once had, stared back at me, accompanying my now pale complexion. My waist-length, thick, wavy dark hair made my features look delicate. I was always told that I didn't need makeup, even though I used a little bit of blush now to make myself _look_ like I was healthy.

My chest as just the average B-cup, normal for a still-growing high school girl. My black jacket had long sleeves that nearly went down to my fingertips. The pair of navy-blue jeans I wore were coupled with a pair of black, lace-up boots I got for my birthday. They were my favorite since they lasted for such a long time.

I brushed my hair a little with my fingers, and prepared to sink myself, become a part of the lake.

And so a I weakened my knees a little and leaned forwards, felling gravity doing the rest.

The moment I felt myself hit the water, it didn't hurt at all in the way my body made impact. It seemed like even the waters had accepted my choice, and made my death gentler for me. I felt myself begin to sink, the thinner threads of water twisting into my hair and the fabric of my clothes.

For some funny reason, I thought as I felt my life being pulled away from me...

_I never was a happy girl in the first place. I didn't **know** what my real happiness was._

_What is a laugh?_

**.::.**

**Wahhhhh! I made myself cry when she was planning on committing suicide. I wouldn't know how a person would feel if they wanted to die, but I put myself in their shoes and tried my best. The next chapter might involve actually involve- I NO TELL U XD **

**Well, this is my first fanfic! I hope it gets popular over time. I'm telling you, WRITERS BLOCK IS A BITCH.**

**I might update again today. Excuse me for any mistakes, or if this thing just sucks.**

**Ciao~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yeah baybeh! Chapter 2~! Sorry for such a long wait (felt like that for me...) Anyway, I'm glad that at least some people are reading this shit. :D Alright, I'm currently thinking of who lovely Retha should be paired up with, maybe... nah. I'll tell you later. **

**Please review! (Even though this story has just begun some, support would be kind.)**

**Onto the story :3**

Retha felt like she wanted to throw up, really. But it was dark... she couldn't see anything. Too dark... so dark... The dark-haired girl grasped the darkness, attempting to feel something, anything. She didn't, of course.

The 17-year-old felt like she was floating, but it couldn't be. She was no angel.

Prying her lightly glowing eyes open to a pair of thin slits, they suddenly widened when she saw bubbles floating up from her lips. She gasped, writhing about. She should be dead! Why wasn't she dead?! This wasn't right, this wasn't right! Was she defying death? She had such a heavy bag on, it'd be impossible to not sink and drown... why wasn't she then?

"What's going on...?"

Retha gasped, hands moving quickly to cover her mouth. She flinched when she felt something cut into her palm.

Looking down at her hand, she saw a trickle of almost-black blood floating upwards before fading into the water. She looked down at her feet, expecting to see the empty bottom of the lake- there was no emptiness.

A coral reef filled with colorful and varying sizes of fish greeted her sight. Then her eyes moved to her feet- well, they _looked _like feet to say in the least. They were webbed... and a pale gray in color. She was a fish? And her teeth were sharp... Retha inspected her hands as well, noting that they too were webbed and had sharp claws.

So... maybe she had a glowy antennae too... She sweat-dropped at that. Yeah. Nemo reference. Looking upwards, she saw a faint glow of blue where the sun hit the water, refracting over the sandy and reef-crowded ground.

Looking down at the coral-reef again, she then realized that she had never noticed how beautiful it's life forms were. She looked behind her back and found a long, shark-like tail at the end. But she frowned when she realized that she no longer had her belongings, including her Ipod.

She suddenly smiled. Maybe this was her heaven. Being a fish-person for the rest of her life wasn't something she hated.

But then... her One Piece manga...

A little tear drooped out of the corner of her eye.

She missed it already.

Turning around, she decided to practice moving around in her new habitat. It seemed like a pretty good idea, after all.

**.::.**

Somewhere on the water's surface...

"Captain! This is dangerous Sea King territory, don't you think that we should go around this one area?"

An indigo-haired man humphed, looking up laboredly before stretching his arms behind his back and yawning.

"Nah, just go on forwards. Not like anything could sense this ship. Remember? Seastone-covered bottom?"

"O-oh yeah."

The captain stood up, fingers still laced behind his head. The relaxed, smiling expression on his face hid the dangerous abilities he held within him. This captain's name was Nikolas Tande. He had tanned skin and short, choppy bluish hair.

A brown trench coat with a white dress-shirt underneath dressed his muscular yet slim frame. He wore a pair of black pants along with a pair of brown, lace-up boots. A black-bladed katana in it's ebony sheath set itself on his back, a pair of similarly colored guns with silver designs at the sides of his hips.

His silverish-yellow eyes calmly looked out over the sea. He and his crew of 41 were on their way to make a name for themselves.

No, Nikolas wasn't like the rest of the pirates out there. He wasn't looking for One Piece at all, he just wanted to make a name for himself. Tired of being scorned and known as a coward back home, he left to show that he _could_ be something.

"Hey, Laurence."

"Y-yes sir?"

Laurence Conely was an easily startled man with shoulder-length brunette hair and black eyes. He normally cooked, but he was also well-known as the best gunsmith on the ship. He generally pushed his pair of black-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose as a sort of nervous tick. Laurence usually used a long, hunting rifle as his weapon.

An attachable blade which was especially designed for his weapon was strapped to his upper arm and placed in a sheath. He wore a gray dress-shirt instead, a pair of black-colored dress pants on his lower-half. A darker-grey cloth was wrapped around his waist and tied in a knot. He wore a pair of tough, black dress-shoes- which most of the crew members found unusual for a pirate, but they beared with it.

After all, everyone has their quirks.

"What direction are we headed in?"

Laurence sweat-dropped, along with every other crewmember on deck. Their captain was also well-known for his sad memory. Really, it was sad.

The gunsmith turned towards Ashleigh, who knew what was coming.

"Yah, yah cap'n." The blonde replied, annoyed. "We have already passed ze Grand Line and are currently headed for ze Archipelago. Work on ze memory, will ze?!"

Nikolas gave Ashleigh a momentary stink-eye, who sent it right back twice as forceful.

Their captain rolled his eyes, turning on his heel and going back to his cabin to sleep. He hated waking up suddenly and then finding he couldn't go back to sleep again. It annoyed him like nuts, which was something he was allergic too... yeah. Nothing with nuts in it for him.

Even for a captain with the ability to read an opponents mind, swordsmanship skills of a professional, and a price of 80,000,000 beli on his head, Nikolas wasn't perfect.

After all, nobody is.

**.::.**

Retha found herself deep in a conversation with a couple of colorful stingrays and some puffer fish. They were discussing the logics of how it'd be like to walk on land, and when Retha told them that she had been "up there," they were amazed by her and pulled her into the conversation.

A violet-spotted pufferfish curiously floated over to her legs, before speaking softly like the rest of the fish.

"Are these what you use to walk on this "land?"

Retha smiled, nodding her head. "Yeah, pretty much."

The pufferfish sighed and bounced itself lightly against the two limbs. "I wish I had those..." The rest of the fish laughed, and the violet-spotted one frowned at them, puffing itself up dramatically in annoyance.

"S-shutup! I don't want them _literally! _I just wish that I had her body structure in general."

"Phese phese phese~! That would be so funny looking!" One of the stingray commented, laughing all the while. Retha found herself enjoying this heaven.

She looked about, and noticed that the sun was beginning to go down.

"Ah, phese~ we should be going now guys." The stingray commented, turning to swim away. "Bye Retha! It's been wonderful talking to you."

The rest of the sea creatures holding the conversation agreed, swimming away as well, all saying farewell. Retha smiled, turning and easily swimming away. The teen had torn her black jeans up to her mid-thigh so that it was more comfortable, doing the same for her sweater sleeves.

She had also torn almost all of the bottom half of her hoodie off in order for the gills on her waist to function better.

Swimming even faster through the darkening waters and mastering a speed that she hadn't thought possible (her newfound tail helped a lot in this). During the conversation, the stingray had mentioned meeting someone like her before. Were there other people that ended up in this heaven as well? Perhaps there were. She didn't mind sharing her heaven with others. Everyone should be able to enjoy it.

Suddenly just then, a dark shadow passed over her.

Looking up, she saw what appeared to be a ship's hull above her. But it looked so old-fashioned... and to top it off it was gigantic. Swimming up to it curiously, she tapped lightly on the surface of the wood.

Shrugging, she was going to swim off before it registered to her that there could be people on board. Excited by that fact, she swam around it and surfaced.

This was honestly the first time that she had surfaced, as for most of her arrival here, she mainly swam around the watery haven and held conversations with fish. Maybe this was the "giant wood-piece" one of the puffer fish said that passed above them.

Hearing laughing voices and singing- oh wait. Something suddenly clicked in her head. This all seemed too familiar. She wasn't too extremely far into the One Piece series, but all of this seemed too strangely related to the series- just what pirate ship was this? Swimming backwards to attempt at spotting the ship's flag, she stopped and looked carefully, squinting slightly.

She saw the flag on the ship- and nearly choked on a frothy mix of air and water when the image suddenly registered in her mind.

It was the Whitebeard Pirates.

**Oh my... CLIFFHANGERTROLOLOLOLOLOL :D**

**I'm such a bitch :)**

**I'll update soon as possible! Sorry for any confusing stuff or mistakes...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Finally! It's the third chapter... I know these things are coming up fast, but don't judge me and think I'm have like, a ton of free-time or something. Trust me, if I did I'd be uploading every single day. So serious. Anyway, continuing off from the cruel cliff-hanger...**

"Oi, Thatch-san! Pass the sake, will ya?!" A black-haired man laughed, drunk and smiling. An orange-headed man with a pompadour grinned, drunk as well while he tossed his comrade another bottle of sake. "No problem, Ace-kun!"

But while all this partying was occurring, the shock of the situation was shocking a fishwoman not too far away.

_Oh what the hell?! How did I fucking end up in One Piece?! _Retha massaged her temples lightly, deciding whether to make an appearance on the ship or even try to get noticed. Going with the Whitebeard Pirates might actually be a really good idea, considering the fact that they cared for anybody despite their race.

Surely they wouldn't decide to try and cook her. If they did and she was wrong, she'd have to change her overall opinion of the crew to "cannibals." But then again... she was basically a fish person now... whatever.

Retha chose to go onto the ship. Better safer than sorry.

Swimming quickly up to the ship, only then she realized how gigantic it was. Gulping nervously, she first tried getting the attention of on e of the crew members sitting on the wooden railing of the ship, they were all smiling and laughing hard about something, although she didn't know what.

She tried shouting first, but nobody heard her over the loud commotion the crew created.

A tickmark formed on the side of her head._ Stupid pirates and their goddamn loud parties. I probably sound like any other screaming girl on that ship, no pun intended. _

Retha then kicked the side of their ship in annoyed anger, shocked when she actually saw it sway slightly. Some of the people on board reacted slightly with tiny yelps and shouts of laughter (drunken of course).

"Wowz, I didn't think that there'd be Sea Kings wantin' sum sake too." A shaky, laughing voice exclaimed from above.

"Well we're havin' a pretty grand party right now, can't blame 'em." Someone else replied, laughing as well.

Both were men.

Why was Retha not feeling surprised right now?

Growling angrily, she quickly thought up a plan to get on the ship. Climbing the side would be too difficult as none of the ropes went all the way- wait a second... wasn't there the anchor? A victorious look came upon Retha's face. Perfect.

Swimming around the bottom of the ship until she found the anchor – which wasn't difficult to miss as it was huge – she allowed her claws to extend (yes, her claws can be retracted and extended for battle... or other purposes) as she dug them into the rope. Retha had never been great at climbing, especially at high heights. She sucked at the skill since she lacked the arm strength for it, but now since she had a fishman's strength it was no problem.

Climbing laboriously up the rope (her tail contributes to her body weight too now, so it's even heavier than before because of the muscle mass in it), she finally clambered onto the deck. Panting, she rolled onto her side, her human lungs instantly activating.

Groaning, Retha sat up, rubbing her bottom tenderly. When she had thrown herself onto the deck, she slammed down a bit too hard on her tailbone. It hurt a lot, considering the fact that it had now morphed into a fully-functional extension of her body. It did help a lot though, in terms of swimming.

Standing up slowly, she looked down at herself and noticed for the first time that her stomach and the back of her legs and under-arms (including length) were a sort of white-ish blue color. Meh. Must be a shark thing. Then shouldn't she have a fin on her back too?

Nah. Check later.

Walking cautiously onto the deck and feeling relieved that there were so many people to the point of where she was nearly unnoticeable, she sighed. Drunk laughter was all around her, and to her utter surprise there were actually a couple of other fishmen on deck, laughing and drinking with the rest of the pirates like it was any day.

Retha smiled at this... but she didn't remember there being _those_ fishmen around... but it was neat to see how well they got along with the pirates. She looked down at her hands, their slender fingers entwining and fiddling with themselves.

She was actually _on_ the Moby Dick. Retha was still in slight shock, but them felt a sense of pride for accomplishing such a sort of task nearly impossible for any other sort of person.

Turning around to explore, she found herself staring at an extremely toned chest.

Blushing, Retha's eyes flicked upwards and widened. It was Portgas D. Ace... _the_ Portgas D. Ace. He suddenly leaned forwards, causing Retha to back up slightly. That was when she scented alcohol on his breath.

She stiffened.

Even though any other fangirl would instantly take to bed with Ace, she knew that he was still a man, no matter how amazing (coughcoughorsexycoughcough) he is. And to top it off, he was drunk.

"Hey~" Ace said, smiling druggedly while Retha's eyes darted around nervously.

"I like your tail... can I hug it?" Ace questioned sluggishly, looking like he was about to fall over at any moment.

Feeling a strange form of pity towards the man, and knowing of his narcoleptic tendencies, Retha sat down comfortably, patting her tail lightly. Ace smiled in a happy, childish way before sitting down as well and picking up Retha's thick, rubber-like tail.

Goosebumps ran themselves up her spine when his warmer hands touched the flesh on her tail. Feeling a blush form subconsciously as the 20-year-old curled up next to her, setting his head in her lap and hugging her long tail to his body, it was the first time in a long while that she had actually ever felt any true affection towards an anime character of sorts.

She smiled down at Ace, watching him as he stared back up at her with half-closed eyes. Soon, he was out of it. Looking around and grabbing some netting that was laying randomly about, Retha formed a sort of pillow and pulled her tail out of Ace's grasp, putting the netting under his head to make as a make-shift cushion.

Retha held back a chuckle when Ace instantly snuggled up to the fish-netting, snoring.

All around her the party was still going on, though. Retha didn't mind at all, but now was a good time to explore. Apparently this was a fishman party too, so nobody would mind...

**What?! AceXOC?! Hm... it'll depend on the decisions she makes... remember that...**

**I'll upload soon as possible again. Sorry for any mistakes.**


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